WE’VE LOST IT!

Brannon Howse, writing in the February issue of the TBC EXTRA, in an article entitled "We've Lost The Culture War," says what I've been saying for over four years now:    "The transformation of America is happening so fast that each day brings a new revelation of what government, religion, and educational leaders are doing to accomplish their goal of re-making America in very un-American ways. ... The speed at which the world is moving toward a 'new order' is simply astonishing."    He adds, "We are past the point of restoring our culture." In my opinion we can only expect limited success, one soul here and another there! We are definitely into the prophesied apostasy of the church, and the apostasy of the culture.    Unfortunately, most evangelical Christians do not have a clue as to what is going on. They think "all is well" and that only minor adjustments are needed to change things around. I believe spiritual and then physical persecution is not far away. Believers will soon experience a torrent of hatred. All we can do is stand firm, as Paul writes in Colossians 2:8:    "See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, according to the tradition of men, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ."    -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

A GREAT VERSE (Colossians 2:8)!

This is a great verse for today that every believer needs to soak on. From the Greek text it reads:    "You be seeing that no one shall himself be captivating you by means of the philosophy and empty deceitful [seduction], by means of the instruction [tradition] of men, by means of the fundamentals [alphabet – a, b, c(s)] of the culture [cosmos, world], and not be means of Christ!"    The culture is eating us up! We are consumed by what the culture thinks and does.    We should be looking, seeing, what the culture is doing to us. We have to be awake and not asleep! Present Tense: We should continually be observing what is going on around us and what we are fed by the culture.     "Philosophy" is two words put together: Philos=to love, befriend; sophos=wisdom. Or, "the love of [earthly, human] wisdom!" "Deceit" has to do with spiritual or philosophical deception that is "empty" and goes nowhere!     The "fundamentals of the culture" have to do with the base physical things of the world. The rudimental and fundamental things that have to do with nature, or art, or the physical world. This is what we see today. People who are captivated only by what they can see, touch, smell, do, etc. Or, entertainment, fun, or anything that panders to the flesh and the visual. Simple thinking for simple people, going nowhere, and having no deep purpose in life!    The Word of God awakens us and should make us very aware of what life is all about.    -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

WE’RE DIEING ON THE VINE HERE!

This is how a fan of Scofield Ministries ended his note to me. He cannot find a Bible teaching church where he lives. He urges Scofield "to keep up the good work." I want to remind all who are reading this that you can pull up my teachings on the scofieldprophecystudies.org website.    Many people use my teachings as their only spiritual contact during the week. The churches near them are not teaching the Scriptures. And, it is getting worse as each week passes.  -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

THE TERRIBLE SIN IN PETER’S GENERATION

If we are reading correctly, the sin of sodomy was rampant in the days of the apostle Peter. In 2 Peter 2, the apostle warns the churches of the coming of false prophets. He says they "secretly," with subtle intention introduced "destructive heresies," even denying the sacrifice of Christ, the Master, who died for their sins (v. 1). Peter then uses the example of the generation of Noah and the fact that God did not spare that sinning group of people who were existing before the great Flood (vv. 4-5).    But then Peter turns to the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah when the Lord reduced those cities to ashes (v. 6). The question: does Peter then continue to describe the consequences of the evil of homosexuality in the verses that follow, verses 7-14? In my opinion that is exactly what he does, and if this is so, this is the longest passage of Scripture describing the horrors of that debauchery that was raising its evil head again in Peter's day.    He says the people of those two cities were "living ungodly" lives, they were unprincipled men, and righteous Lot, Abraham's nephew, was living among them (v. 8). These Sodomites were practicing "lawless deeds" (v. 8b). They were reserved "under punishment for the day of judgment" (v. 9). They indulged the flesh with corrupt desires, they despised authority, were self-willed, were not afraid of angelic majesties (possibly a reference to the two angels who came to Sodom to rescue Lot).    These men "were like unreasoning animals, born of instinct to be captured and killed reviling when they had no knowledge, ..." (vv. 11-12). They were "having eyes full of adultery and never ceased from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children" (v. 14).    Peter uses the above long list to describe sodomy. This is my opinion and it seems to be the view of others, such as William Baker on 2 Peter, in my commentary series. Kenneth Wuest appears to make the same connection. Wuest says the sins of the Sodomites were like those called Libertines. The word "flesh" is a reference to their depraved behavior. They had passionate desires and cravings. They were polluting all those around them. Wuest points out that the false teachers of verse 1 brought forth their totally depraved nature which became bait to snare their hearers and lead them astray. Thus they lived out acts of manners with filthy words and of "the unchaste handling of males and females."    Ed Blum applies all these verses also to homosexuality. He says the connection of what was going on in Sodom and Gomorrah had for Peter's day, "contemporary application which was plan." Blum raises the question, "To what extent are Christians living today in a godliness society tormented by what they see?" He adds, "God's wrath is certain to fall on the false teachers of Peter's day, and on those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature—this refers," he adds, "to sexual profligacy." "Profligacy" means "shameless dissoluteness," and "reckless extravagance." Kistemaker argues that these sexual sins, both homosexuality and adultery, were destroying the churches.    One cannot help think of the open sin of the homosexual Bishops in the Episcopal churches today. The shameless and open parading of their sins before the churches and the world! And, also of the homosexual churches that are springing up around the nation!    What is happening today makes us think of Peter's words here in 2 Peter! – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

THE AIR FORCE ACADEMY AND WICCA

The Air Force Academy is building a chapel of sorts to support and provide worship space for their students who believe in Wicca, Shamanism, Druidism, and witchcraft in general. It will consist of a circle of stones similar to the Druid worship center in England known as Stonehenge. The Air Force recognizes a large number of neo-pagan students whose "spiritual" needs must be met. Similar thinking is already going on in Army centers such as at Ft. Hood in Texas.    This is no longer "old" Christian America. There is a new breed in this country who will take the nation down the path to judgment. Many in the younger generation will not know the difference. We reported some weeks ago that the government is going to take over our public education curriculum. The government will expunge all textbooks of objective history that reflects the facts as to how our nation was formed. Anything Christian will be removed. Minorities will be pushed forward, and the great founders of the nation will be omitted. Socialism and feminism will be honored and democracy will be taken out of the textbooks.    All of this is being pushed forward by our socialistic President, Barack Hussein Obama. Opposition to him is growing but will it be enough to remove him from office in the next three years? And the thing that is frightening is that, no matter what happens to him, will we be able to do anything about what he and his staff will have put in place? The President is diabolical in his thinking—he is in touch with the thinking of the new generation. This also includes the minorities, and even the illegals who have invaded our nation. He knows what they want.  – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

SOMETHING IS GOING ON WITH THE MILITARY CHANNEL

I enjoy watching the documentaries on the Military Channel on TV. But they have a strange commercial that I cannot fully explain. On the channel itself, they say that they are presenting documentaries that deal with "Honor, Duty, Family, and Brotherhood." They do not mention "Nation," or fighting for one's "Country." This generation is not patriotic as those of the past. In fact, Army ads talk about joining up "to make a difference," whatever that means! Other generations went to war to knock the stew out of the enemy, or to kill them! – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

YOU COULD BE ON THE “DEATH” LIST

An old philosophy, eugenics, is raising its ugly head again. Eugenics (meaning good breeding) was advocated some generations ago in order to cleanse the population. Only those worthy were to be birthed. Those who were less in population breeding were to be aborted or not birthed at all. Now there is some talk in the government to reduce the population. It could come by eugenics, abortion, or by just letting us oldsters pass away with no medications to overcome diseases.    This is no laughing matter, and it's serious. This could be put in place subtly without much notice, through abortion clinics or within nursing homes. It is part of the thinking of evolutionists who are increasing in number in America. This is the way things went in Nazi Germany and Communist Russia before World War II.    Philosophies and attitudes in America are changing so rapidly we cannot keep up with the trends. No matter what Christians say, it seems the judgment upon us is building on the horizon! -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

OBAMA-CARE AND THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Roman Catholic Bishops, and the Catholic Church in general, are pushing for ObamaCare and for taking in unlimited numbers of Hispanic illegal criminals (for giving amnesty to the illegals) for the reason everyone can understand. This will pack in more members for the Democratic Party, and for getting more who will vote Democratic in elections. They will be voting for more giveaway and socialism. The purpose is to destroy personal initiative and self-reliance, wanting more giveaway with government support. This is the way to support Obama's declared "spread the wealth around" policy—to take more taxes from those who work hard and give it to those who do not!    Often one can tell who the enemies are by those who are for a certain policy. Why is it that so many did not know how the nation was going to go when Barack Hussein Obama was elected. Those of us who knew anything about history could predict the outcome.    More than likely it is impossible to stop this—the judgment is set and the Lord is bringing about the demise of American personal independence as we have known it.      Remember: everything in life, all decisions, are spiritual and have spiritual consequences and results. We do nothing without a spiritual result!    -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

GENTILES TO BE SAVED

Throughout the OT there are examples of Gentiles coming to God, and, there are a few passages that tell us that they will also come to the Lord in the kingdom period. Psalm 69 has several messianic verses, such as verses 9 and 35-36. Paul paraphrases verse 9 in Romans 15:3. The verse in the psalms reads: "The reproaches of those who reproach You (God the Father) have fallen on me (the Messiah)." As God the Father was looked down upon, and rejected so the Son would be. The Hebrew word for "reproach" is "ka'raph" and means "winter," or thus "to taunt," bring something heavy upon another person.    Verses 35-36 refer to the messianic kingdom. "For God will save Zion and build the cities of Judah, that they may dwell there and possess it. And the descendants of His servants will inherit it [that is, Zion], and those who love His name will dwell in it."    What in the world can the amill say about this passage? He has to make Zion the church, and "spiritualize" the cities of Judah. Those who love His name "will dwell in it," that is, they will dwell in Zion, not the church!    These promises will come to pass! God does not go back on His promises! "Those who love His name" seem to be separate from the Jewish descendants. Therefore, this could be a reference to pious and believing Gentiles.    How easy it is to study and interpret the Bible, if one does not run the words into the ground and distort the simple meaning of what God says. – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

THE DISCIPLES WILL SIT ON 12 THRONES!

Now for all good amills this must have to do somehow with the church, right? Wrong! But the amills have no other choice because they want to get rid of the Jews.    Christ said to the disciples "Truly I say to you, that you who have followed Me, in the regeneration when the Son of Man will sit on His glorious throne, you also shall sit upon twelve thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Matt. 19:28).    "Regeneration" is in Greek "palingenesia" which means "the again birth." It is here a reference to the regeneration of the nation of Israel, her restoration, regathering, and return back to the Lord and to the Land when the Millennial reign of the Messiah begins. It is used only here for the nation of Israel, and in reference to the kingdom, and it is used in only one more place, for the regeneration of the individual, by the Holy Spirit, in the Church age (Titus 3:5). Remember, we study by context. There are two distinct contexts, one for Israel and one for the saints in the church. Context, context, context!    The disciples will be made the judges for the tribes of Israel during the period of the establishment of the Millennial kingdom. And Christ will be on His throne, on earth, not in heaven. This is stated in plain language and not difficult to understand.. – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

DON’T REWRITE HISTORY!

The revisionists try to tell us that there were very friendly Indian tribes in North America, and that the mean white people brought upon them all of the troubles that they later experienced. While it is true that there were abusive white settlers, the argument is very unbalanced. The vast majority of the Indians were horribly immoral people. They were cruel to each other and to their own women and children.    If you want to find out how filthy they really were I suggest you read a small book entitled Venereal Disease and the Lewis and Clark Expedition, by Dr. Thomas Lowry. He tells the story of that expedition across the Northern frontier and how the six or so tribes the explorers encountered lived such filthy and immoral lives. He documents in vivid account how such diseases destroyed whole tribes. Some of the tribes were so infected that the entire population of some villages committed suicide because of the pain of the venereal diseases! While it was true that the Anglo-Saxons fell into the sins of cohabiting with the Indian women, the side of sin fell down on the way the Indians existed.    Lewis and Clark crossed paths with about six Indian tribes who were eaten up with venereal diseases. On all of the people of a given tribe, whole populations lived with horrible disfigurements on their faces and all over their bodies. In some cases, a pint of puss could be removed from one sore. The Indian men passed their wives around to all visitors. They enslaved both their women and children. They tortured people and murdered others without any remorse. This was common among all the tribes. The youngest women were shared with the older men. Sex and sin was nothing but a joke to everyone in the tribe.    The elders of the tribes sold their women and children for the smallest of trinkets. Some historians who examined the history of the tribes believe that venereal diseases came with the Indians centuries earlier when they migrated to America from across Asia, and some experts do not believe that all such diseases were passed down from the Europeans—though this cannot be fully proven.    The Indian women paraded about almost totally naked. They would grab any man and take him off to the bushes for sex. The children were exposed to such practices by their wayward parents. Again, to say the explorers were innocent would certainly be wrong, for Christianity was not lived out in the lives of most of the traveling men. We forget (or have not really known from the beginning) how pagan the Indians of North America really were.     When the missionaries finally began a more serious work with the various Northwestern tribes, they attempted to force the Indian children to destroy their totem poles, their pagan trinkets, and to live fully clothed. Recently, Indian revisionists have tried to say how cruel the missionaries were to force them to "give up their way of life" and their paganism. Many today have repudiated their Christianity and have gone back to worshipping the rocks, trees, the wind, and the Great Spirit! In my opinion, all that has happened to them over the years is a judgment from God. This does not give excuses for anyone who mistreated the Indian people but God used the coming of the white man as a judgment upon many of the tribal populations.    This is why over and over again the Lord told the prophets to judge the nations surrounding Israel. Zephaniah tells the Jews that the Lord will judge: Gaza, Ashkelon, Ashdod, Canaan, the Philistines, Moab, Ammon, Sodom, Gomorrah. God said that He would destroy them "so that there would be no inhabitant among" His people (Zeph. 2:5). Nineveh would be destroyed and become a resting place for the animals, and the birds. God would destroy the pagan immoral nations that were having such a negative influence on His people.    It is somewhat wrong to say that America is a "melting pot" of people. While to a degree this is true, the vast majority coming to these shores, at least up until the time of John F. Kennedy, were European in quota. Kennedy opened the doors to allow other nations and religions to flood into America without any restrictions. Now we are paying for this practice with many militant religions coming in which will destroy our Judeo-Christian heritage. We are paying the price! And, unfortunately, many of our young people are absorbing the ways of the pagan and backward peoples. – Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

MUSLINS COMING TO CHRIST

Joel Rosenberg reports that millions of Muslims have accepted Christ as Savior. Egypt, one million; Afghanistan, 10,000; Kazakhstan, 15,000; Uzbekistan, 30,000; Sudan, one million; Iran, one million. In most of these countries there was only a hand full who previously had trusted Him as Savior. If these facts are true, then God is moving dramatically with Islam! He believes that this fulfills Joel 2:28-32. "I will pour out my Spirit in those days ..." This could certainly be a sign of the end times. -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

WHAT HAPPENS WHEN ... ?

When thousands of illegals, witches and warlocks, pour into America bringing their evil religion along with them? Spiritual chaos will certainly increase. A unique documentary about migrating butterflies to Mexico brought this to my attention. The documentary was on PBS, and it was a testimony to the blessings of God in creation. The butterfly changes four times before it reaches its flying stage. It travels from Canada, two thousand miles, down to Mexico, always to the same place, a mountainous region that is 10,000 feet above sea level. Billions travel along a fifty mile wide path, even stopping over where I live here in the Hill Country of Texas. In the area where the butterflies go, the Mexicans are very superstitious and claim that the little flying creatures have the spirits of their ancestors. In many of the shopping malls, say in El Paso, there are objects of worship to purchase in honoring the butterflies. In these malls you can purchase all kinds of items for demon and Satan worship. These malls are becoming more numerous and growing in influence with the Mexicans living along our borders. Back to the butterflies: Where the butterflies go, in the mountains of Mexico, there is no democracy. The people have no idea of what that means. The butterflies arrive about the time of Halloween and the Mexican population puts food out for the butterflies, thinking they are the souls of their dead relatives. Scientists believe that one cell in the brains of the butterflies helps keep them on track to make the 2,000 mile journey from Canada to Mexico. No matter what path the butterflies start out on, they end up on the same "airway" trails that take them to the exact location in Mexico. The scientists who study the butterfly say that there is no creature like them in all of biology on the planet! They have to admit that the butterfly could not develop as they are simply by chance. The butterflies have to travel at least fifty miles a day to make the journey. When they go back north to Canada, they stop in Texas to mate. And when they arrive, they die but the eggs survive to travel another year. Each female produces from 300-400 eggs before they die. To make their journey, the scientists believe, they must be traveling by magnetic forces or by celestial navigation. When they arrive in Mexico from the Canadian trip, they survive for five months. All of their activities and patterns remain the same with little or no change. The butterflies can mate on a tree limb or they can mate while in flight. What a shame that such excellence of creation by our Lord is distorted by pagan beliefs of the Mexicans. They hold to a form of reincarnation like the Hindus. The butterflies could be their aunts, uncles, cousins, or parents! The longing of the Mexicans is to come to America, bringing their pagan beliefs along with them. This will continue to water down the Reformation and European heritage that helped establish this Christian nation. Where, and when, will it all end? -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)

THE CRITERIA FOR CANONICITY OF SCRIPTURE

Below is a list of stated facts that give to us confirmation that what we have in the Bible is indeed the inspired Word of God. The list could be expanded but these are just some preliminary points to consider. 1. The internal evidence. So many of the books of the Bible say something like "the Lord has spoken," or "the word of the Lord came expressly to Ezekiel ..." (Ezek. 1:3). 2. The fulfillment of prophecy. Hundreds, if not thousands of prophecies are given to us in both the OT and the NT. They can be verified and confirmed in secular history. In fact, fulfillment of prophecy is a key factor in telling us that the Bible is the Word of God. 3. The authors claimed inspiration by the Lord through His Holy Spirit. The authors then were liars or they were telling us the truth. And, we can verify what they were saying by objective analysis. 4. Most who were living when the prophets or the apostles wrote, who read what they penned, confirmed the authority of the authors and their statements. I know of no occasions when they said with meaningful evidence, "These men are liars and are not telling the truth!" 5. The Lord over and over said that He was speaking through the authors, and dictating to them His message that He wanted us to receive. This is either true or false. 6. Even the statements of nonbelievers often tell us what was being written was indeed true and could be relied upon. For example, the testimony of Nebuchadnezzar: "I Nebuchadnezzar praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven, for all His works are true and His ways just, ..." (Dan. 4:37). 7. The confirmation of individuals, or of kings and priests, following several decades or more after a certain book had been written (such as Daniel). No one was recorded saying: "What was written X number of years ago is all a lie!" 8. The preservation and the handling of the biblical texts. They were kept with care (for the most part) and were meticulously copied and preserved. 9. Few, if any, claimed that what had been written some years earlier, had contradictions and mistakes. Instead, the manuscripts were held in high esteem, because of their accuracy and fidelity to truth. 10. The high views expressed in the Bible books in regard to the standards of morality, truthfulness, spirituality, and revelation of the nature and the works of God. 11. The consistency of doctrine in the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. There are no contradictions that can stand up under honest scrutiny. The writings of the Bible hold up as to the nature of man, the nature of God, His character and all other doctrines that were given forth in the scriptural writings. 12. The contrast of what the Bible teaches in comparison with other religious writings. Other religions cannot come close to the fidelity and spiritual nature of the Bible—for example, in comparing the writings of Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, etc. In other religious writings, God, or the gods, is degraded, fictionalized, presented as immoral in character, and not worthy of study! 13. Preservation of the biblical texts. No other ancient manuscripts have been preserved in such detail as the Word of God. While there are transmission issues to be studied, still what we have in the manuscripts cannot be matched by the writings of other religions. Secular or historical manuscripts are but patchwork in comparison to the Bible. Preservation of the biblical manuscripts must be considered. There is a reason that the texts were kept with such care over the centuries, and that would be the fact that so many people realized that the Bible was not simply an ordinary collection of religious works. They stand out far beyond all other manuscripts of antiquity. 14. The attitude of Christ toward the Bible—it was given by inspiration from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it was to be accepted as His divine authority for truth. 15. The authors of the Bible were said to be the holy prophets and holy apostles who set forth the inspired Word. 16. While there were a few throughout history who denied the inspiration of the Bible, most of the criticism came late—mainly during the last three hundred years. During the age of skepticism, critics denied the work of God in history. God has not revealed Himself in written revelation, they argue. The Bible is only a naturalistic book, full of errors and mistakes, they claim, though without provable, objective factual evidence. Critics must objectively and convincingly refute these points in order to debunk the Bible and substantiate their claim that it is not the Word of God. Skepticism cares not for truth, its presuppositions found in its own reasoning is sufficient to make its claim. A complete study of history, and a thorough examination of the internal claims and evidence within Scripture, flies in the face of critical objections! -- Dr. Mal Couch (Feb., 10)